Which to use
“alimentan” and “alimentar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,969
- “alimentan” frequency rank
- #7,510
- “alimentar” frequency rank
- 20479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alimentan | alimentar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alimentar. | Dar comida o alimentos. |
Where the eye mixes alimentan and alimentar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. alimentan and alimentar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses alimentan with alimentar
A purely visual mix-up. alimentan ([aliˈmẽn̪t̪ãn]) and alimentar ([alimẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “alimentan” becomes r in “alimentar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alimentan is recorded at frequency rank #12,969, classified as averb, pronounced [aliˈmẽn̪t̪ãn]. alimentar is at rank #7,510, tagged as averb, pronounced [alimẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 20479, this pair ranks #259,169 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alimentan vs alimentar
Shared letters: aeilmnt. Private to "alimentan": -. Private to "alimentar": r.
"alimentan" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC · "alimentar" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "alimentan" and "alimentar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "alimentan" or "alimentar"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alimentan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alimentar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,169 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alimentan" and "alimentar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alimentan vs asientan". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #259,169 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.